The "evil eye" is a term that originated in North Africa and the Mediterranean and is widely believed to cause harm, especially to the sick and vulnerable. In Morocco, it is common for men and boys to decorate the backs of their cloaks with bright red eyes to reflect back and cast off the look of the evil eye. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

12/2/14

According to Google, the energy it takes to conduct 100 searches on its site is equivalent to a 60-watt light bulb burning for 28 minutes. Google uses about 0.0003 kWh of energy to answer the avenge search query, which translates into about 0.2 g of carbon dioxide released. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

12/3/14

Since the Golden Gate Bridge opened in 1937, more than 1,200 people have jumped to their deaths, making it the number one spot in the world for suicides. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

12/4/14

The French had what German soldiers called the Devil Gun. At 75 mm, this cannon was accurate up to 4 miles. The French military commanders claimed that its Devil Gun won the war. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

12/5/14

An average water molecule will spend 9 days in the atmosphere, 2 weeks in a river, 10 years in a large lake, 3,000 to 5,000 years in an ocean, 10,000-100,000+ years underground, and 10,000 to 1,000,000+ years in an Antarctic ice cap. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

12/6/14

At 3,855,103 square miles, Canada is the second largest country in the world, behind Russia. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

12/7/14

Greece's currency, the drachma, was 2,650 years old and Europe's oldest currency. The drachma was replaced with the Euro in 2002. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

12/8/14

Dogs like sweets a lot more than cats do. While cats have around only 473 taste buds, dogs have about 1,700 taste buds. Humans have approximately 9,000. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

12/9/14

Everyone is a minority in Hawaii - there are no racial majorities. Haoles or Caucasians, constitute about 33% of the population, Japanese about 33%, Filipino-Americans about 16%, and Chinese-Americans about 5%. Most of the population has mixed ethnicities. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

12/10/14

Four times in the history of presidential elections, the candidate who won the most popular votes has not been elected president. This occurred in the 1824, 1876, 1888, and 2000 elections. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

12/11/14

Over 40% of Greece's population lives in the capital Athens (Athina in Greek). Since becoming the capital of modern Greece, Athens' population has risen from 10,000 in 1834 to 3.6 million in 2001. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

12/12/14

In January 2009, scientists from the Alaska volcano observatory warned that Mt. Redoubt, a peak just 100 miles southwest of Anchorage, could erupt anytime. Mt Redoubt last erupted in 1989, shooting ash high into the jetstream, causing engine failure in a KLM jet carrying 231 passengers. The plane dropped more than 2 miles before the crew could restart the engines. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

12/13/14

Scientists predict that there may be 30 million new cases of diabetes in China alone by 2025. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

12/14/14

Originating as far back as 250 B.C., Chinese lanterns were an important symbol of long life. Lanterns were once symbols of a family's wealth, and the richest families had lanterns so large, it required several people with poles to hoist them into place. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

12/15/14

The state of Wyoming is the deadliest state for drinking and driving, with just over 13 drunk-driving fatalities for every 100,000 people occurring each year. New York experiences the least amount of drunk-driving fatalities, with only 2.06 per 100,000 residents. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

12/16/14

Polar bears are the largest land predators on earth. They can stand more than 11 feet high and weigh more than 1,700 lbs.. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

12/17/14

Saturn's rings are only a few hundred feet thick, which is less than half the length of a football field. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

12/18/14

Over $15 billion a year is spent in advertisements directed toward children in the U.S. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

12/19/14

The most extensive screen tests in the history of motion pictures were held for the role of Scarlet O'Hara in Gone with the Wind. MGM shot 149,000 feet of black-and-white test film and another 13,000 feet of color film with 60 actresses. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

12/20/14

Feta, which is made from goat's milk, is Greece's national cheese. It dates back to the Homeric ages, and the average per-capita consumption of feta cheese in Greece is the highest in the world. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

12/21/14

Wine grapes rank number one among the world's fruit crops in terms of acres planted. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

12/22/14

While the equatorial diameter of Earth is 27 miles greater than its diameter measured from pole to pole, the two diameters for Venus are virtually the same, making the planet an almost perfect sphere. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

12/23/14

One survey reports that 33% of dog owners admit they talk to their dogs on the phone or leave messages on answering machines while they are away. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

12/24/14

Place names associated with the holiday season consist of a dozen places named Holly including Mount Holly, N.C. (population 13,904) and Holly Springs, Miss. (7,558). There is Snowflake, Ariz. (5,576), Santa Claus, Ind. (2,501), North Pole, Alaska (2,214), Noel, Mo. (1,809) and - if you know about reindeer - Dasher, Ga. (944) and the village of Rudolph, Wis. (436). There is also Santa Claus, Ga. (167). - Provided by U.S. Census Bureau

12/25/14

According to the Guinness world records, the tallest Christmas tree ever cut was a 221-foot Douglas fir that was displayed in 1950 at the Northgate Shopping Center in Seattle, Washington. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

12/26/14

Nearly half of U.S. youths and adolescents are unaware of their HIV infection, and less than a quarter are tested for the virus. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

12/27/14

At its farthest point from the Sun (aphelion), Saturn is approximately 940 million miles (1.51 billion km.) away. When it is at its closest (perihelion), Saturn is about 840 million miles (1.35 billion km.) from the Sun. On average, Saturn is about 891 million miles (1.4 billion km.) from the Sun. Earth, on average, is 92,935,700 miles (150 million km.) away. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

12/28/14

Mothers who have autoimmune diseases such as type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and celiac disease have up to three times a greater risk for having a child with autism. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

12/29/14

During his second run for presidency, Teddy Roosevelt was shot by a would-be assassin while giving a speech in Milwaukee. He continued to deliver his speech with the bullet in his chest. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

12/30/14

Approximately 67 million people worldwide are affected by autism. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

12/31/14

J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, is the first person to become a billionaire (U.S. dollars) by writing books. - Provided by RandomHistory.com